Steps to a decorated staircase

By Ann Hoevel, CNN

Updated 1742 GMT (0042 HKT) June 25, 2013

Staircases22 photos

Open House Week 3: Staircases – Welcome to CNN's Open House, a project that looks at how people decorate every part of their homes. We are now in the third week of the project, looking at beautifully decorated staircases. Keep clicking to see heartfelt decor and inspiring DIY feats!

Hide Caption

1 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Staircases – Emily Clark's home in Charlotte, North Carolina, has a back staircase which she decorated in a way that communicates love and pride to her children.

Hide Caption

2 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Staircases – Anisa Darnell's Roswell, Georgia, home came with a huge blank wall along the staircase. She filled it with a collage that is a tribute to her family.

Hide Caption

3 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Staircases – Jill Hinson's Portland, Oregon, house wasn't a home until she installed this gallery on the stairwell wall.

Hide Caption

4 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Staircases – Christine Price put 250 hours of hard work into the staircase of her Edwardian home in Manchester, England.

Hide Caption

5 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Staircases – Jenna Burger's Saratoga Springs, New York home had dated carpet on the stairs that she could not stand. But now that the staircase is redecorated, she often thinks about what it took to make it the way she wanted it.

Hide Caption

6 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Staircases – Jacki Poovey and her husband built their Cary, North Carolina, home with a staircase that was deliberately grand and wide, but now they love it for it's "lived-in" character.

Hide Caption

7 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Staircases – Jae Vinson's Atlanta home had a dark, dingy staircase in the back which she used every day. Some paint changed the staircase and Vinson's outlook.

Hide Caption

8 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Staircases – Victoria Barnes' Philadelphia home was built in 1890, and it needed a facelift. She painted three stories of spindles on her staircase.

Hide Caption

9 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House Week 2: Foyers – Welcome to CNN's Open House, a project that looks at how people decorate every part of their homes. During our second week of the project, we examined how people decorate their foyers: Keep clicking to see images of their bold decor.

Hide Caption

10 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Foyers – Emily Clark's bold, striped foyer -- which also functions as a music room -- in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a playful take on formal decor.

Hide Caption

11 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Foyers – Linda Weinstein of northern New Jersey loves the sophistication that the chinoiserie pieces bring to her foyer.

Hide Caption

12 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Foyers – An open floor plan and two adjacent formal rooms could have overwhelmed Erin Cook's foyer in Charlotte, North Carolina, but she choose whimsical wallpaper and a hopscotch rug for a stand-out look.

Hide Caption

13 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Foyers – Catherine Shireman of Apex, North Carolina, says she's not a fussy designer, so when decorating her two-story foyer, she emphasized the warmth of her carpet and lamps.

Hide Caption

14 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Foyers – Shannon Smith's foyer in Charlotte, North Carolina, is very small and not well-defined, so she chose a tall painting and an orchid to set her space apart from the living room.

Hide Caption

15 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Foyers – Jill Deane's "vibrant-eclectic" style continues from her front porch into the foyer of her 1920s home.

Hide Caption

16 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House Week 1: Front Porches – Welcome to CNN's Open House, a project that looks at how people decorate every part of their homes. During our first week of the project, we started right at the front door, on the front porch. Keep clicking to see some welcoming decor!

Hide Caption

17 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Front porches – In Portland, Connecticut, iReporter Jill Deane escapes her busy household (she's the mother of five) on her porch, she said. "I spend my time reading, rocking and thinking," she said, "a lot of thinking."

Hide Caption

18 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Front porches – Farm Fresh Therapy blogger and iReporter Chelsea Mohrman made deliberate use of her limited budget and love of all things vintage when decorating her front porch in Clintonville, Ohio. Most of the pieces were found in antique shops, garage sales and thrift stores, but the coffee table was made by hand out of reclaimed barn wood.

Hide Caption

19 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Front porches – iReporter Paul Tamasi says he enjoys roughly three hours each day on his rustic front porch in Belvidere, Vermont. It's part of the massive renovation he conducted on his home, turning it into a log cabin with a grand entrance.

Hide Caption

20 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Front porches – iReporter Angela Kuncaitis lives on Maple Valley Farms in Coral, Michigan, and knows how to maximize the charm of farm life. "My porch is all thrifted finds, and I never paid over $50 for anything," said the decorator, event stylist and stager. She recently hosted her daughter's prairie-themed wedding, which cost less than $5,000, she said.

Hide Caption

21 of 22

Staircases22 photos

Open House: Front porches – A cozy spot for tea is how iReporter and photographer Susan Boyle likes to think of her small front porch. Vintage style and an air of romance -- she used colors from her wedding bouquet to dress the porch this year -- greet her as she sips her morning coffee and watches her kids walk off to school, she said.

Hide Caption

22 of 22

Story highlights

Staircases are important elements in home decor as well as family memories

"If you paint three stories of spindles, you never forget it," said Victoria Barnes

Collages are a modern interpretation of the "wall of shame"

There are plenty of reasons to fall in love with a staircase.

It's a home's conduit and connector. It ushers life along, makes a grand impression on visitors and serves as the backdrop for family memories.

"It's where my daughter took pictures for her first daddy-daughter dance," said Anisa Darnell, part of the Milk and Honey Home decorator team from Roswell, Georgia. Her home's staircase is also special to her because her grandfather posed with her daughter for a snapshot there before he passed away.

Jacki Poovey and her husband designed their staircase to be a grand, welcoming part of their Cary, North Carolina home, but it's also at the heart of countless family memories. It still bears reminders of the time their puppy chewed every bit of molding from the edges of the newel post to the cap molding on the treads. "It's a lived-in home," says Poovey.

Massive undertakings, like DIY home renovations, can imbue a home's staircase with lasting impressions of the experience.

Christine Price, from Manchester, England, can relate, having spent 250 hours stripping, sanding and painting the staircase in her Edwardian home. "The staircase is the first thing you see when you enter our home," she said. "Now that it's restored it makes such a huge difference to the whole feel of the house."

For Jenna Burger, an interior designer and blogger, a staircase makeover led to an overhaul of every molding in her house. The staircase decor represents a significant change for her home's aesthetic, she said.

Paint was also the key ingredient in Jae Vinson's economical transformation of her back staircase. With natural wood as the "runner" and crisp white paint on the sides of the treads, the previously dingy atmosphere was radically lightened.

"This is a garage entry staircase," Vinson said. "It's something I use every single day going to and from my car. The space feels more welcoming now."

The feel of the staircase can be an important part of decorating a home, Darnell said. Obsessed with collages, she chose to decorate her staircase because it opened up to her family room and dining room, and its huge, blank wall stood out.

"I wanted it to be interesting and visually pretty," she said. Now photos, frames, decorative keys and even a lantern adorn the staircase, which she designed to be a tribute to her family.

Photo walls along staircases have come a long way since the "wall of shame," full of unfortunate school photos and stilted professional portraits.

Jill Hinson currently lives in Portland, Oregon, but her family moves often because of her husband's job. The black and white portraits she has taken of her two daughters since their births are a decorating element that makes each house they live in a home.

"The gallery wall tells the story of our family," Hinson said. "Where we have been, the growth of our girls and what is personal and important to us."

The Hinsons moved into the Portland house two years ago, "and as soon as I saw this gigantic wall going up the stairs, I new that it was the perfect place for a gallery wall."

Clark's staircase is lined with large and small works of art by her children, as well as canvases of their hand and footprints. "Even my own kindergarten evaluation is framed and hung in the mix," she said. "There's still lots of wall space, so this area will continue to be a work in progress. I'd love to fill it full of their colorful masterpieces," Clark said.

The decor of the stairwell began with a decal of her favorite quote from the movie, "The Help," which says "You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

"I love that quote," Clark said, "and thought it was a sweet reminder for our kids as they bound up those steps, several times every day. It also reminds me of what they need to hear from me on a regular basis."

Are you obsessed with decorating your house? Show us your skills at CNN's Open House and your photo could be featured in next week's story. Our next focus: Inviting beds.